Jeremiah 51:32

“And that the passages are stopped, etc.] Or “taken”, or “seized”f1047; where Cyrus placed soldiers to keep them; these were the passages leading from the river Euphrates to the city, the keys of it; the little gates, that Herodotusf1048 speaks of, leading to the river, which were left open that night. Kimchi thinks the towers built by the river side, to keep the enemy out, that should attempt to enter, are meant; these were now in his hands; and the reeds they have burnt with fire; which grew upon the banks of the river, and in the marshes adjoining to it. Some render it, “the marshes”f1049; that is, the reeds and bulrushes in them, which usually grow in such places. And Herodotusf1050 makes…”

“passages are stopped--The guarded fords of the Euphrates are occupied by the enemy (see on Jer 50:38). reeds . . . burned--literally, "the marsh." After draining off the river, Cyrus "burned" the stockade of dense tree-like "reeds" on its banks, forming the outworks of the city's fortifications. The burning of these would give the appearance of the marsh or river itself being on "fire."”

“The passages are stopped - The ferries are seized, occupied. The historians state that when Cyrus captured the city his troops moved down the bed of the river and occupied all these ferries, finding at each of them the gates negligently left open. See the Daniel 5:1 note. The reeds - literally, the marshes or pools, which formed an important part of the defenses of Babylon, were dried up as completely as a piece of wood would be consumed by fire. return to 'Top of Page'”

“The passages - The passages over the river Euphrates, and all the other passages by which the Babylonians might make their escape, were guarded with soldiers. Reeds - On the border of the river Euphrates were vast quantities of great and tall reeds, which with the mud in which they stood, were as another wall to the city; but the Medes had burnt them so as the way was open. Jeremiah 51:33”

“the passages: Jer 50:38; Isa 44:27 the men: Jer 51:30, Jer 50:37 Jeremiah 51:33”

“Permits of being taken as a continuation of the message brought to the king. מעבּרות, "crossing-places," do not here mean "fords" ( Jdg 3:28); for such shallow places, where one could go through the river, are not to be found in the Euphrates. at Babylon: they mean bridges and ferries, because, in addition to the stone bridge built by Nebuchadnezzar (Herodotus, i. 186; see Duncker's Geschichte, i. S. 859), there must also have been at Babylon, throughout its large extent, other means of crossing, either by bridges of boats or ferries. נתפּשׁוּ, "they have been taken," seized by the enemy; cf. Jer 48:41. אגמּים are ponds and artificial lakes which had been formed for the protection of the…”